The present invention relates to a vehicle straightening apparatus comprising a cylindrical body with a piston part movable therein.
At present, the equipment used for the straightening of vehicle bodies comprises a straightening bench provided with body clamps, e.g., for the fastening to a car. Moreover, the equipment comprises lifting means for raising the straightening bench to a suitable working height. In some cases, the straightening apparatus includes a vertical draw beam with a cylindrical body and a piston part moving inside it. Straightening in the lateral direction can be achieved by fastening a chain which passes around a chain wheel attached to the cylinder body and around the upper end of the piston part to the area to be straightened. By raising the piston part, e.g., hydraulically, the chain is caused to draw the vehicle body area to be straightened in the desired lateral direction towards the draw beam.
The object of the present invention is to improve the operation of straightening equipment as described above and to achieve a straightening apparatus that is also capable of vertical straightening.
An object of the invention is obtained by having a mounting base for the lifting beam attached to the piston movable in the cylindrical body.
Additionally, the length of the lifting beam can be made adjustable in a stepless fashion by a second piston cylinder arrangement therein, independent of the height adjustment of the lifting beam.
An adjustable chain mechanism is provided for drawing of the vehicle beam by passing the chain around flanges on the lifting beam at the upper end of the piston on the cylindrical body.
It is also desirable to have an additional strengthening means at the free end of the lifting beam as well as a lock for fixing the length of the lifting beam.
The draw beam of the invention allows, e.g., the top of a vehicle to be straightened in a considerably faster and simpler manner than is possible with the currently known straightening equipment.
In the following, the invention is described in greater detail by the aid of examples by referring to the attached drawings, in which